The Table of the Lord

We do not have the answers to every question – maybe only a partial answer
that could set you in the right direction. But the very asking of the question
is the beginning of the answer. So why don’t you send us your questions and
together we will search.

In this issue we take the question and answer, with permission, from
the May 2008 issue of The Sacred Heart Messenger,
www.messenger.ie , published by the Jesuits in Ireland. Father
Bernard McGuckian SJ, who wrote the answer, is one of three
brothers who are Jesuit priests in Ireland. He had an article on St
Francis Xavier in the November-December 2006 issue of Misyon

The Table of the Lord
Dear Father McGuckian,

My adult son and daughter no longer
attend the Sacraments. At a recent
wedding they both received Holy
Communion without prior Confession. I
know the Church teaches that one should make a good
confession before receiving Holy Communion but isn’t
everybody welcome at the table of the Lord, no matter
what state their life is in? Even Judas took part in the Last
Supper.

Your question reminds me of an incident at
another wedding. It happened some time
ago in Italy. One of the young women guests
turned up in a shabby, worn dress. The bride
did not like this one little bit. In fact she was
so incensed that she embarked on a most
unladylike course of action. In all her finery
and in the full view of the whole assembly
she set about physically beating up the other
lady. There’s only so much a girl can take!
She would have had no trouble identifying with
the attitude of the King at the wedding in the
parable of Jesus. ‘My friend, how did you get
in here without a wedding garment?’ Nor would
it have been any surprise to her that it all ended
up in ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ cf. Mt
22:11-14. (The wedding garment symbolizes
good works).

I am presuming that by no longer ‘attending
the Sacraments’, you mean ‘do not attend
Mass except on big occasions, never go to
Confession and rarely receive Holy
Communion’. To receive Holy Communion
worthily, a person has to be in the state of
grace. This does not mean being in a state of advanced
holiness. Nor does it mean having been to Confession in the
days immediately preceding Holy Communion. It simply
means that I am unaware of any un-confessed mortal sin
in my life. Where this is not the case, Holy
Communion should not be received until
it has been put right.

This has been the understanding of the
Church since the time of St Paul.
‘Everyone is to examine himself and only
then eat of the bread or drink from the
cup because a person who eats and
drinks without recognizing the body is
eating and drinking to his own
condemnation’ (1 Cor.28-29). This clear
message does not dissuade people from
attending any Church gathering, including
Mass. One participates perfectly validly
at the Sacrifice of the Mass whether or
not one receives Holy Communion.
There can be a variety of good reasons
for not communicating during a particular
Mass but there is no good reason for
never ever communicating during one’s
whole life.


To prevent anyone from embracing such a bizarre lifestyle,
the idea of the Easter Duty arose in the 13th century. This
requires every Catholic to receive Holy Communion at least
once a year. The intention here is to ensure at least a
minimal response to the mysterious words of Jesus: ‘In all
truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man
and drink his blood you have no life in you’ (Jn. 6:53 ).
From the earliest days of Christianity people have been
urged to respond to these words by approaching the table
of the Lord in a dignified manner, ‘not with levity . . . not by
habit or with formality, but with sincerity and pureness of
spirit’ as St John Chrysostom put it as far back as the 5th
century. He tirelessly repeated that preparation for Holy
Communion must include repentance for sins.
This has always been the tradition. We must keep hoping that our young
people will see the reasonableness of this position and embrace a more
w h o l e h e a r t e d practice of their faith.
You mention the presence of Judas at the Last Supper.
Although an invited guest, he hardly qualifies as a model participant.
While they were at table together, he was actually in the process of betraying
his innocent Host to deadly enemies. This action, though
patently wrong, need not have
been the end of the road for Judas. Peter also did wrong
in denying Jesus. Both sinned. Yet, one of
them is presented to us for imitation; not
the other. The difference was in what they
did next. Judas was filled with self-centered
remorse ending in suicide while Peter was
filled with heartfelt sorrow leading to
redemptive tears. One turned away from
Jesus; the other didn’t.
A final word about the young woman who
caused the furor at that Italian wedding.
She was well known in her hometown for
her beauty. But she was equally well known
for her complete lack of concern about her
physical appearance. She was, however
very much concerned about how she
appeared in the eyes of God. Sometime
afterwards on the Eve of the Feast of
Sacred Heart, 1899, she was to receive the
stigmata and died aged 25 in April 1903. Pope Pius XII
canonized her on 3 May 1947 as Saint Gemma Galgani.
Her feast day is celebrated on 14 May. In a world where
appearances seem to be everything, we
could do worse than commend our young people to her
intercession